Exposition of John 17, Exposition · Part 13
JOHN 17.3.
That they might know thee the only true God, and Jeſus Chriſt, &c.
AND thus far of the thing Explained, and that as you have heard, is life Eternal, together with the way of Explication: our Saviour ſhews not quare ſit, but quid ſit, what this life Eternal is? This ſaith he is life Eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jeſus Chriſt whom thou haſt ſent. So that as you have heard, it conſiſts in holy Knowledge.
Proceed we now to look a little more particularly and diſtinctly on the Knowledge in which Eternal life conſiſts, as it is here deſcribed by the Object of it, God and Chriſt, Thee the only true God, and Jeſus Chriſt whom thou haſt ſent.
So that here is a double Object of the Knowledge mentioned, and each of them is ſet forth by a Title and an Attribute. The Title of the former God, the Attribute the true God, yea, the only true God. The Title of the latter Jeſus Chriſt, the Attribute whom God hath ſent. Thee the only true God, and Jeſus Chriſt whom thou haſt ſent.
And here the firſt thing that I ſhall obſerve, is, the communication of this double Object of the Knowledge wherein Eternal life conſiſts, God and Chriſt. You ſee my Brethren, they are cloſely knit together by the conjunctive particle And, to ſhew us that they may not be divided in this great buſineſs. That it is not ſufficient to ſalvation to believe in God, unleſs we believe in Chriſt to. To know God, unleſs we know Chriſt too. Our Saviour ſaith not, this is life Eternal to know the only true God; no, he doth not ſtop there. The knowledge which proceeds no further, will never bring a man to life Eternal. There is another Object of this ſaving Knowledge, which muſt with all be jointly apprehended by us if we mean to live for ever, and that is Jeſus Chriſt whom God hath ſent. And then my Brethren, if we take them both together, we are right, It is impoſſible that we ſhould periſh. This is life Eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Ieſus Chriſt whom thou haſt ſent. Not thee alone, but thee and Chriſt. So that the Point to be obſerved is this;
DOCTRINE. The Knowledge which is life Eternal, in which Eternal life conſiſts, is the Knowledge both of God and Chriſt too, not of the former only, but the latter alſo.
You ſee my Brethren, both of them are jointly made the Object of it in my Text. So that the Knowledge which neglecteth either of them, is in-ſufficient to ſalvation. If it ſtay and reſt on God, and go not on to Jeſus Chriſt, it will never reach home. This only, this is life Eternal, to know God and Jeſus Chriſt, not divided, but together.
Firſt, it is true, that it is abſolutely neceſſary to Eternal life to know God; The ignorant of him are made the Objects of a dreadful Imprecation. Ier. 10.25. Yea, more then ſo, the ignorant among the heathen who were deprived of the means (though not of all, yet) of the ſaving Knowledge of him: and yet as you may ſee the Prophet prayes, Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not. Indeed, the men that have their underſtandings darkened by reaſon of their ignorance of God, whether they have means or none, are alienated from the life of God, Epheſ. 4.18. They do not live the life of Grace in this world, nor ſhall they live the life of Glory in the world to come. And the Lord Jeſus ſhall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels, rendring vengeance unto them that know not God, 2 Theſ. 1.7. So that without the knowledge of him, there is no eſcaping everlaſting wrath and vengeance. There is no poſſibility of coming to enjoy him, unleſs we be acquainted with him. Nec cum potes aut amare quem neſcias, aut habere quem non amaveris: thou canſt not love him whom thou knoweſt not, nor have him whom thou loveſt not.
Nay, let me go a little further, that Knowledge of the Lord, and only that, is life Eternal, which bringeth forth obedience to him. You may ſee this evident in both the parts of godlineſs, both in eſchewing evil, and in doing good. As for the firſt, hear what the Lord himſelf ſaith, Job 28.28. The fear of the Lord, that is Wiſdom, and to depart from evil is underſtanding. To know him ſo to fear him, to fear to diſobey him and to ſin againſt him: this only is the right Knowledge. As for the other part of godlineſs, which conſiſts in doing good, ſee that of the Prophet David, Pſalm 111.10. A good underſtanding have they that do his Commandments. They only underſtand and know the Lord effectually and ſavingly, that obey the will of God. Others may have underſtanding, but it is no good underſtanding. That alone is good and right, which makes a man to do his Commandments: and this the Lord himſelf obſerves of the knowledge of Ioſiah, Ier. 22.16. He judged the cauſe of the poor and needy, was not this to know me ſaith the Lord? q.d. This was knowledge to the purpoſe, this was true and real knowledge of the Lord, which made him ſtrict and carefull in the practice of his duty. And therefore becauſe this is life Eternal, God hath bound himſelf by Covenant to give them whom he means to ſave, ſuch a knowledge of himſelf. His Covenant is to give them Underſtanding; ſee the abridgement of it, Ier. 31.34. They ſhall all know me, ſaith God there. But how ſhall they know God? Why, they ſhall know him ſo as to ſerve him and obey him. And therefore it is ſaid before, I will put my Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. They ſhall not have it only in their minds to know it, but in their hearts to practice and obey it, And ſo they ſhall all know me. So that you ſee the Knowledge which is ſaving, in which Eternal life conſiſts, hath God for the object of it.
Secondly, but though it have him for the Object of it, it hath him not for the ſole and only Object: if our knowledge go no further it will never reach home; it will never bring us up to Life and Glory. The Knowledge which is life Eternal (you have heard) in which Eternal life conſiſts, is the knowledge both of God and Chriſt too. Not of the former only, but of the latter alſo. To know God without Chriſt, is not to know him ſavingly, as I ſhall ſhew you more at large hereafter. And therefore the Apoſtle Peter preſſes thoſe whoſe ſalvation he deſires, that they would grow in the knowledge of the Saviour Ieſus Chriſt, 2 Pet. 3.18. And the Apoſtle Paul deſireth God in behalf of the Epheſians, that he would give them the ſpirit of wiſdom and Revelation in the knowledge of him, that is, of Chriſt Ieſus. Indeed, this is the great thing that we muſt deſire to know, if we mean to live for ever. And therefore Chriſt is made ſometimes the only Object of a Chriſtians knowledge, as if there were no other knowledge neceſſary to that great End. When Chriſt aſcended up on high, he gave gifts unto men, ſaith the Apoſtle, Eph. 4.8. and what was the intent and aim of thoſe gifts? Why, to bring men to the knowledge of the Son of God. God is not mentioned there, but the Son of God only. And the Apoſtle Paul taught the Corinthians nothing elſe but Chriſt, and yet his aym was that they might be ſaved. I determined to know nothing among you, ſaith he, 1 Cor. 2.2. that is, I reſolved ſo to manage and carry the courſe of my Miniſtry, as if I knew nothing but Ieſus Chriſt and him crucified. And in the ſame reſpect it is, that he prefers the knowledge of Chriſt before all other things, yea before all other knowledge, as being of the greateſt uſe, Phil. 3.8. He doth not only ſay that it is good, but that it is Excellent, beyond compare there is an excellency in it. Yea doubtleſs; I eſteem all things but loſs for the excellency of the Knowledge of Chriſt Ieſus my Lord: yea life it ſelf but loſs, (for that you ſee is not excepted) in regard of that Knowledge which bringeth us to life Eternal. And hence it was, that though he ſpake with Tongues more then they all, though he abounded and excelled in all ſorts of Learning, yet he gloried in nothing but in the knowledge of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt, Gal. 6.4. as intimating that eſpecially to be conſiderable in the main buſineſs, to make him everlaſtingly and truly happy.
But why is not the knowledge of the only true God ſufficient of it ſelf to life Eternal, unleſs we alſo know Ieſus Chriſt whom he hath ſent? Let us ſee the reaſons of it.
Reaſon 1 If we know God and not Chriſt, we know him but as a Creator, and a common Saviour, a Preſerver, not as a Sanctifier or Redeemer. We know him but in ſuch a way, (and very ſhort of ſuch a meaſure) as Adam did in the ſtate of Innocency. And which way ſhould we come to life Eternal by ſuch a knowledge as this is? If we look that God ſhould ſave us upon this account, that he hath made us, we are upon a wrong ground. Indeed, did we continue in the ſtate in which he made us, he would be ſure to ſave us too. Could we ſerve him and obey him ſo abſolutely and exactly as Adam could and did, while he remained in his firſt Integrity, I muſt acknowledge then it were enough to life Eternal to know him too in ſuch a way as Adam did in that ſtate; there were no other knowledge of him neceſſary to make us everlaſtingly and truly happy. But we are loſt you know in the Creation, there we are dead and gone, and theretore it is neceſſary now to know the Lord under another Notion, if we mean to live for ever, viz. as a Repairer of the ruins of decayed and loſt man-kind; as a healer of the Natures, and a Forgiver of the ſins of his people. And thus we cannot know him out of Chriſt, and ſo by Conſequence, unleſs we know Chriſt too. The old and the firſt frame and Fabrick of ſalvation was over-thrown and over-turned by the fall. And if we mean to build it up again, we muſt begin upon another ground, a new Foundation; God was the only Object of Fundamental knowledge then. Chriſt is at the leaſt the next and the mediate Object of fundamental knowledge now. You know my Brethren, that confeſſion of the Apoſtle Peter, Mat. 16.16. Thou art Chriſt the Son of God, is made by Jeſus Chriſt himſelf, the Rock on which the Church is founded. And other Foundation no man can lay, ſaith the Apoſtle Paul to the Corinthians, Eph. 1.3, 11. that is, no other ſound and ſolid Foundation then that which is ſaid, which is Jeſus Chriſt. Its true, the ſame Apoſtle elſewhere ſpeaks of the foundation of the Prophets and Apoſtles, Eph. 2.20. That is the Foundation which the Prophets and Apoſtles laid, not making them the matter of it, but the layers of it; for ſo you muſt conceive his meaning in that Text, You are built on the Foundation of the Prophets and Apoſtles, that is, on the fundamental Doctrine which the Prophets and Apoſtles teach, of which foundation Ieſus Chriſt himſelf, although he be not all, yet he is the chief Corner-ſtone. The Knowledge of God was the chief point in Adams foundation. The knowledge of Chriſt is the chief point in our foundation. Chriſt was not there at all as Mediator, but here he is in the firſt and chief place. There are other Cornerſtones that reſt upon him, but he, and he alone is the chief Corner-ſtone on which all the reſt are ſet, and who ſupporteth all the building. And therefore he that fails of knowing him, muſt needs fail of life Eternal.
Secondly, the Knowledge of God is not enough to life Eternal, unleſs Reaſon 2 we know Chriſt too. Becauſe unleſs we know Chriſt, we know not God as Reconciled unto us. We know him only on the terms that he was with us when we fell, and that is upon terms of enmity and oppoſition. As long as we remain as Adam left us, un repaired and un-renewed, vve are enemies to God, God is an enemy to us. And if we knovv him out of Chriſt, either we knovv him not aright, or elſe we knovv him on ſuch terms as theſe are; Chriſt is the only Mediator betvveen God and man. He came dovvn into the World, to take up all the breaches and the differences betvveen his Father and his people, and to make peace by the blood of his Croſs. And how ſhould Chriſt make peace for us, unleſs we knovv him, unleſs we be acquainted with him? unleſs we put our matter into his hands. So that if vve know Chriſt, vve may know God as a friend, in, and by, and through Chriſt. We may look upon him then as Reconciled to us, as pacified and appeaſed tovvards us. But if vve know not Chriſt at all, vve cannot know God otherwiſe then as an Enemy, and as a Judge, and an Avenger: and whether ſuch a knovvledge of him can be life Eternal, judge you?
Thirdly, Knovvledge of God is not enough to life Eternal, unleſs Reaſon 3 vve know Chriſt too; becauſe unleſs we know Chriſt, and know him in and through Chriſt, vve know him vvithout Intereſt; vve know him, but as none of ours. We parted vvith the Lord in Adam, vve loſt him there, and all the right vve had in him; and which way comes he to be ours again? but by a new, a ſecond Covenant which he makes, the former being broken and diſſolved. I entered into Covenant with thee, and thou becameſt mine, ſaith the Lord to his people, Ezech. 16.8. And is not Chriſt the Foundation of the Covenant? Is it not made with him in Chriſt? Is not the condition of the Covenant, Faith in Chriſt? Mark what the Apoſtle ſaith, Gal. 3.16. The Covenant was not made to ſeeds, as many, but to ſeed, as one; that is, to Chriſt in aggregato, comprizing all his members with him. It was not made immediately to us; no, it was made immediately to Chriſt our Head, and in and through him to us his members. So that the Lord is not in Covenant with us, he is not ours, vve have no Title to him but in Chriſt. And hence the Intereſt of Chriſt in God is made the riſe and ground of ours, I aſcend to my God and your God, ſaith Jeſus Chriſt to his Diſciples, John 20.17. Firſt mine, and then yours. God is our Maſter but in Chriſt; He is his firſt and chief ſervant, and we are his ſervants in him. God is our Father, but in Chriſt; he is his firſt begotten Son, and we are his ſons in him. So that if we know Chriſt, there is a poſſibility that vve may know the Lord as our God. But if we know not Chriſt at all, how can we know God in him? We may know him as a God, as Adam did between the fall and the renewing of the Covenant, but ſuch a one as we ſhall flie from, and as we can by no means cloſe withall, becauſe we look upon him now as none of ours, as one in whom vve have no Intereſt at all. And certainly Eternal life cannot conſiſt in ſuch a Knowledge of the Lord as this is.
Fourthly, Knowledge of God is not enough to life Eternal, unleſs we Reaſon 4 know Chriſt too; becauſe unleſs we know Chriſt, as we know God without Intereſt, ſo we know him without Faith; I mean without ſaving faith, if vve know God without Chriſt; we may believe in God vvithout Chriſt: vve may believe in him as he is Omnipotent, and All-mighty, and Eternal, and the like. But ſuch a faith as this will never juſtifie us in the preſent. Life, nor ſave us in the life to come. Even Turks, and Jews, and Arrians boaſt of faith in God, you know; and yet becauſe they appehend not Jeſus Chriſt, they catch at nothing but a ſhadow; and miſerably loſe their own ſouls. He that denies, and ſo by conſequence believes not in the Son, can never have the Father, as you may ſee 1 John 2.28. But he that hath the Son, hath the Father alſo. Well then, if we will ſo believe in God as to come to life Eternal, vve muſt believe in him through Chriſt. Such truſt have we through Chriſt in God, ſaith the Apoſtle, 2 Cor. 3.4. And this we cannot do unleſs vve know not God only, but Jeſus Chriſt whom he hath ſent. For diſtinct explicite Knowledge is abſolutely neceſſary to the being of Faith: and perfect Ignorance in any point whatever it be, deſtroyes all faith in that particular. And hence is the Apoſtles queſtion, How ſhall they believe in him, of whom they have not heard? and conſequently whom they have not known. So that if we know not Chriſt, we cannot believe in him, vve cannot believe in God with a juſtifying faith. And he that believes not is condemned already: ſuch a perſon is in a ſtate of death and condemnation. But if we know both God and Chriſt too, and ſo as to believe in God through Chriſt; Eternal life conſiſts in this Knowledge. This is life Eternal, to know the only true God, &c.
Ʋſe 1 Now is it ſo, my Brethren, that the Knowledge which is life Eternal, in which Eternal life conſiſteth, is the Knowledge both of God and Chriſt too?
Then in the firſt place, we may here behold the dangerous eſtate of Heathen Nations, who know not Jeſus Chriſt, nor can they any vvay (in the condition they are in) attain to this Knowledge. How ſhould they come to life Eternal, if this be life Eternal, to know the only true God, and Ieſus Chriſt whom he hath ſent? Its true, that even they have means to know God, as the Apoſtle ſhews and proves, Rom. 1.19, 20. That which may be known (conceive it, that which may be naturally known) of God, is manifeſt in them, that is the Heathen, for God hath even ſhewed it to them. For the Inviſible things of him, from the Creation of the world are cleerly ſeen, being underſtood by the things which he hath made, even his eternal power and God-head. So that there is an Image and Reſemblance of him ſtamped upon the Creatures: there are apparent Characters and foot-ſteps, and Impreſsions of the God-head, of his Power, and of his Wiſdom ſet upon the things that he hath made, which may be looked upon by every eye. How doth his Glory ſhine and gliſter in the Rare and admirable ſtructure of the World, the glorious frame of Heaven and Earth? And hence it is that David ſaith, the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the Firmament ſheweth his handy-work, Pſalm 19.1. Indeed, he tells us afterwards, the Law of the Lord is perfect: the Word of God, and that alone is a perfect, a compleat and perfect help to bring us to the knowledge of God; but yet there is ſome declaration of him in the Creatures; the Heavens declare the glory of God; And the means the Heathens have, the creatures Catechize them and inſtruct them in the Knowledge of God, as Job ſhews, Iob 12.7, Ask now the beaſts and they ſhall teach thee, the fowls of the heavens and they ſhall tell thee, or ſpeak to the earth and it ſhall teach thee, and the fiſhes of the Sea ſhall declare to thee; who knoweth not in all theſe, that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? and therefore the Apoſtle tells us, that even they the heathen know God as you may ſee, Rom. 1.21.
But now they have no means to know Chriſt, and this is life Eternal to know both, both God and Chriſt too. So that in this reſpect they are cut off from life Eternal, which is a very ſad caſe. This Knowledge is not written in the Creature-book, and they have not the Scripture-book, and how then ſhould they come to it? Its true that God is written in the Creature-book as I ſhewed you even now, but not a word of Chriſt there. Not a word I mean as Man and Mediator of the Church; as he is Chriſt whom God hath ſent. He did not make the World as man, and ſo by Conſequence as Man he is not repreſented in the Book of the Creation; God is written in the heart, but not a word of Chriſt there. The Law is written in the heart by nature, but there are no Impreſſions of the Goſpel, which is the Word of Chriſt, as the Apoſtles phraſe is, Col. 3.16. And hence it is, that all the Nations that dwell upon the face of the earth have groped after God, and found him too, as you may ſee, Acts 17.27. All people have acknowledged him. Let a man run from Eaſt to Weſt, from North to South: let him ranſack all Ages, and where he findeth any men, there he ſhall find ſome Worſhip, or Religion, by which they all acknowledge that there is a God. And though they differ in the manner of their Worſhip, they all agree in this, that there is a Deity that muſt be Worſhipped. Within theſe hundred years you know my Brethren, there have been many Nations diſcovered, and many are diſcovered ſtill, which were unknown in former Ages. Among them many have been found to live without Law, King, houſe, going naked, and wandering in the open field, yet none without ſome ſpecies of Religion, and ſome notice of a God, which ſhews us evidently, that it is not ſo natural a thing in man to love Society, to cover and to cloath himſelf againſt the injuries of weather (which yet is very natural) as to acknowledge God.
But now my Brethren, among which of all theſe Nations who never had the book of Scriptures, ſhall you find any notice of a Chriſt, any inckling of a Saviour or Redeemer? No, no, there is no hint of that among them, they have no glimpſe, no crevice to give them any light of Jeſus Chriſt. And how then can they come to life Eternal, ſince it conſiſteth in the knowledge both of God and Chriſt too? not of the former only, but the latter alſo. And therefore we have cauſe to pitty them and bleed over them, and to importune God for them, that the Goſpel may be preached where Chriſt as yet hath not been ſo much as named: that to the people that are yet in darkneſs there may ſhine a great light. That as they have ſome intimations of a God, they may know Chriſt too, and ſo may come to live for ever; for this is life Eternal, &c.
Is it ſo my Brethren, that the knowledge which is life Eternal, &c. is the Vſe 2 Knowledge both of God and Chriſt too? Then let the Miniſters, and the Embaſſadors of Jeſus Chriſt be hence adviſed, as they deſire to ſave themſelves and them that hear them, to bring their Hearers to Eternal life, ſo to inſtruct them and to bring them on-ward in the Knowledge not of God alone but of Jeſus Chriſt too. Let it be their ſpecial labour and endeavour to acquaint them with the things of Jeſus Chriſt, and to implant his Knowledge in their hearts, which is as I have ſhewed ſo neceſſary to ſalvation. Paul was a very good Preacher, and ſee what vvas the ſpecial ſubject of his Miniſtry, Col. 1.26, 27. ſaith the Apoſtle there, the riches of the Glory of this Myſterie, viz. the Goſpel is Chriſt in you the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wiſdom, that we may preſent every man perfect in Chriſt Ieſus. Out of Chriſt vve can never make them perfect and accompliſhed to ſalvation; the knowledge of the Father will not ſerve the turn, and therefore vve preach Chriſt to them, that in and through him they may be perfect. And though the ſame Apoſtle did ſo excel in knowledge, that he durſt without vain glory, compare vvith the very chiefeſt Apoſtles, as you may ſee, 2 Cor. 11.5, 6. Though I be rude in ſpeech, ſaith he, yet not in knowledge, but we have been throughly made manifeſt to you in all things, q. d. There was no point of knowledge in Religion needful for you to be inſtructed in, no difficult and thorny caſe of Conſcience, that any of you had occaſion to propound to me, but I was able fully and cleerly to reſolve you in; yea though he had received ſuch abundance of Revelation from the Lord, that he was in great danger to be exalted above reaſon, as he himſelf acknowledges, 1 Cor. 12.7. yet he profeſſes notwithſtanding that he made no account of all his other Learning in compariſon of this, to know Ieſus Chriſt and him crucified. This was the whole ſcope and drift of his Miniſtry, 2 Cor. 2.2. This was the high point of Learning that he gloried in. This was the Knowledge that he laboured in his preaching to bring the Corinthians to. And this he did adviſedly, and upon mature Judgement; foreign I determined, ſaith he, it was my ſetled and adviſed reſolution before I preached to you, that this ſhould be the higheſt point of Knowledge, that I would profeſs my ſelf to be acquainted with, and to have skill in, and which I vvould in the whole courſe of my Miniſtry endeavour to inſtil into you. I determined to know nothing among you, not a title of any thing, but Ieſus Chriſt and him crucified. Oh that we vvere all of the Apoſtle Pauls mind! Oh that all Miniſters and Preachers of the Goſpel would do as this Apoſtle did: that they would not ſo much affect the knowledge of nice & intricate and curious ſpeculations, and buſie their own and other mens heads with unprofitable controverſies with oppoſition of Science falſly ſo called, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, 1 Tim. 6.11. That they would not make this their glory to excel others in ſecular Learning, and in ſuch points of knowledge as are vain as to the main and great buſineſs: but rather bend themſelves to ſtudy this point better, and to ſtrive to bring themſelves and others to this skill, to know Ieſus Chriſt and him crucified. This were the way indeed to make them happy everlaſtingly, for this is eternal life, &c.
Vſe 3 Is it ſo my Brethren, that the Knowledge which is life Eternal, in which, &c. Then be you all intreated, and prevailed withall my Brethren, to labour after this Knowledge. Not to content your ſelves vvith this, that you have ſome degrees of the Knowledge of God, unleſs withall you know Chriſt too. Let this be your main Endeavour, to get an inſight into thoſe things which concern him, that you may know God in him: That you may look upon him through Chriſt, and ſo may ſee him as he is in Chriſt to his people. We preach not our ſelves, but the Lord Ieſus Chriſt, ſaith the Apoſtle, 2 Cor. 4.5. It is Chriſt that we preach. What then might ſome man ſay, do you not preach God too? Yes, ſaith the Apoſtle there, vve preach God, but we preach him in Chriſt: for God hath ſhined into our hearts, to give the light of the Knowledge of God in the face of Ieſus Chriſt, as it is added in the next words. So then my Brethren, we muſt have the light of the Knowledge of God, but it muſt be in the face of Chriſt. It muſt not ſhine immediately upon us, as it comes from God, for then it vvill overcome us: but it muſt ſhine upon us by Reflection on the face of Chriſt Jeſus. If vve would ſee God we muſt look on Jeſus Chriſt, and we ſhall ſee God in him; and hence our Saviour ſaid to Philip, when he entreated him to ſhew him the Father, he that hath ſeen me hath ſeen the Father alſo: If we would know God, vve muſt ſeek to know Chriſt, and vve ſhall know God in him. And therefore let us ſet our ſelves to this buſineſs, to know God, and Ieſus Chriſt whom he hath ſent, yea, to know God in Jeſus Chriſt: and to this I ſhall perſwade vvith ſome Motives.
Firſt, till you know God in Jeſus Chriſt, you can have no aſſurance of any bleſſing from God, either ſpiritual or temporal; that any thing comes to you in a Covenant-way, for all the Promiſes of God are made in Chriſt. They are the Promiſes of God indeed, as they are called, 2 Cor. 1.20. but they are made in Jeſus Chriſt, they are in him Yea, and in him Amen, as it is added there in that place. So that if you know God and not Chriſt, you know him not as making any promiſe to you. You may know him as a threatner, this he doth with reference to Chriſt; but you can never know him as a Promiſer, at leaſt not as a Promiſer to you in ſpecial. You have no Promiſe of the Lord for any thing, no Promiſe of the Lord will reach to you, to profit you, as long as you know not Chriſt the means of Conveyance. Look over all the book of God, conſider all the precious Promiſes contained in it, from the beginning of it to the End; and this reſolve, if you know not God, you have no right to in any one of them, nor ſhall you ever (if you ſo continue) be a whit the better from them: God hath made Jeſus Chriſt his Steward, he hath put all things into his hand, as vve may ſee, Mat. 11.27. All things are delivered unto me of my Father, ſaith our Saviour; ſo that they come not to us but through him, they go all through his hands. God hath made him heir of all things, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, Heb. 1.2. So that you ſee my Brethren, all is his, and Conſequently we can have nothing but from and by, and through him.
Till you know God in Jeſus Chriſt, the Bleſſings which you have from God, you have them not in love and mercy: So that indeed you can find no true and kindly reliſh in them. For this is that vvhichwhich ſweetens all the Bleſſings of the Lord, when a man can ſay as Iacob of his Children, Gen. 33.5 Theſe are the Children which God hath graciouſly given thy ſervant. As David being reſcued out of danger, The Lord delivered me, ſaith he, becauſe he delighted in me, 2 Sam. 22.20. Then are his Bleſſings and Deliverances ſweet indeed, vvhen we can reliſh love in them, vvhen vve can look upon them as the fruits of mercy. Alas, vve know God poureth out his Bleſſings abundantly on many men, not in love, but in diſpleaſure; He gave them their deſire, ſaith the Pſalmiſt of the Jews that periſhed in the Wilderneſs: but while the meat was in their mouthes, the wrath of God went out againſt them, and ſlew the fatteſt of them, Pſalm 78.31. they had the Bleſſing, but they had it with a curſe. The Lord did curſe their bleſsings to them, and ſo he doth to all that know him not in Jeſus Chriſt, who is his firſt Beloved, and in whom he loves others. Chriſt is the only Way of Intercourſe between God and our ſouls. He is the Way from God to us; He is the Channel and the Pipe in which the ſtream of Gods love runs down to us. So that there is not one drop of Love from God to any ſoul, but it is conveyed and carried to it in, and by, and through Chriſt. Out of Chriſt we have no Love, and conſequently nothing in Love.
Till you know God in Jeſus Chriſt, as he gives nothing in Love to you, ſo he takes nothing in Love from you. Do what you will, or what you can, he is never pleaſed vvith you. He accepts of no Duties, no ſervice you perform to him. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleaſed, Matth. 3.17. Obſerve it well, for it is very notable; He doth not ſay with whom I am well pleaſed, but in whom I am well pleaſed. In whom I am well pleaſed with all, with vvhom I am well pleaſed, with all that are in him, and with no man out of him. If you know God in Chriſt, you may know him as a God vvell pleaſed vvith you, otherwiſe you cannot. He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, ſaith the Apoſtle, Eph. 1.6. Firſt Chriſt is the Beloved of the Father, and then vve are beloved and accepted in him.
Till you know God in Jeſus Chriſt, you know him not as one that pardons and forgives you, but as one that charges all your ſins upon you. In him we have Redemption through his blood, ſaith the Apoſtle, even the forgiveneſs of our ſins, Eph. 1.7. We have not pardon but in him. Him hath the Lord ſet forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood, ſaith the Apoſtle, Rom. 3.25. God hath made him the Mercy-ſeat, the ſeat of Mercy, from vvhichwhich Mercy is diſpenſed. And whereas formerly the Mercy-ſeat under the Law vvas placed within the Vail, and ſo vvas hidden both from the people and the Prieſts; the High-Prieſt only had acceſs to it, and that but once a year neither. The Lord hath now ſet forth this Mercy-ſeat to the view of all men, that all may have acceſs to it. And as the High-Prieſt came not to the Mercy-ſeat without blood, Levit. 16.14. even ſo may no man hope to have mercy from the Lord in the forgiveneſs of his ſins, but through the blood of Jeſus Chriſt; if he know not God in him, he can expect no pardoning mercies from him.
Till you know God in Jeſus Chriſt, you cannot come to God with any boldneſs, or with any confidence. No man cometh to the Father but by me, ſaith Jeſus Chriſt, John 14.6. He muſt make our way to God. In him, ſaith the Apoſtle, we have boldneſs, and acceſs with confidence; Epheſ: 3.12. ſo that we can hold up our heads with courage, and lift up our faces to him, as the expreſſion is, Job 22.26. But if we know not Jeſus Chriſt, how can we be but flat and faint in our approaches to the throne of Grace? It is in his name that we muſt deſire the bleſsings that we ſeek for at the hands of God; and whatſoever we ask the Father in his name, he will give it us, John 16.23. It is in his name that we muſt return the praiſe for bleſsings that we have received, giving thanks to God the Father by him, Col. 3.17. If we draw bleſsings down from God, we muſt do it through Chriſt. If we ſend praiſes up to God, we muſt do it through Chriſt. If we have no acquaintance with the Lord Chriſt, how ſhall we come to God with prayers? how ſhall we come to God with praiſes? with what heart or encouragement ſhall we draw nigh to God, either to get from him, or to bring to him?
Till you know God in Jeſus Chriſt, you can have no aſſurance to enjoy him, neither in this life, nor in that which is to come. By nature we are all afar off, we are without God in the world, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, Epheſ. 2.12. But now in Ieſus Chriſt they who were far of, are made nigh through his blood, as it is added there in that place; yea, they are made one with God, as Jeſus Chriſt himſelf inſinuates, Iohn 17.21. I pray for them, that they may all be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, ſo that they alſo may be one in us. Well then, you ſee my Brethren, we are near to God in this world, but it is in Chriſt. We ſhall be nearer to him in the world to come, and that ſhall be in Chriſt too. We ſhall enter into the holieſt, into heaven, into the place where God is, whereof the holieſt in the Temple was a figure, but that ſhall be by the blood of Jeſus, as the Apoſtle ſhews, Heb. 10.14. So that if we know not Chriſt, we may know God at a diſtance, as one that we ſhall never be partakers of. He and we muſt keep aſunder: But if we know him in Chriſt, we know him then as one who is our own, and whom we ſhall enjoy for ever.